1950s: MLK Jr, civil rights movements and SCLC: SCLC

The SCLC was formed in 1957 after the Montgomery Bus Boycott and stands for Southern Christian Leadership Conference. The original name of the group was Southern Negro Leaders Conference on Transportation and Non-violent Integration. They didn't think with the word Negro in the name that people would take them to seriously so they changed it and added the word Christian to the name.

The SCLC wanted to advance the cause of civil rights in America but in a Non-violent manner. The president of the SCLC for a long time was Martin Luther King Jr. This group came primarily from the church. For the lives of many African Americans, especially in the south, the church played an important role in their lives. The SCLC brought together all various areas of civil rights and put them under one organization.

"(The SCLC is) church-orientated because of the very structure of the Negro community in the South." - Martin Luther King Jr.

The SCLC had three basic wants/goals:

1. They wanted White Americans to not stand by and watch wrongs were being committed against those in the black community.

2. They wanted to encourage black Americans to "seek justice and reject all injustice."

3. They needed all those associated with the SCLC to accept the philosophy of non-violence regardless of the provocation.

The SCLC could co-ordinate and advise and develop the work done by local level civil rights groups. This group also helped black Americans register to vote and opened up citizenship schools.

The SCLC wanted to present to America civil rights as a moral issue. They also turned their attention to poverty found in many inner city ghettos and the violence in these areas. They believed the poverty was a link to the violence. They involved themselves in many well known civil rights movements like Albany, Birmingham, Civil Rights Act, Voting Rights Act, and Selma. The SCLC still continues their work today.